California has the 3rd highest cost of living in the nation. Our cost of living has little impact on the ability of more affluent families to save, invest and build wealth but it’s oppressive to poor and lower income families. It’s why California ranks 47th in income equality and why over a third of Californians live in or near poverty. It’s why we lead the nation in homelessness and it’s why people and businesses are leaving the state.
California ranks 48th in the nation in economic freedom. Economic freedom matters because it measures how easy it is to produce, sell or buy goods and services. States and countries with a low economic freedom index are over regulated and make it expensive to do business. Democratic politicians have simultaneously controlled both the State Assembly and Senate in 57 of the last 63 years. Our high cost of living is the result of their policies.
California needs candidates that can articulately explain what parts of the government should be deregulated. They need to explain how their deregulation will result in more business competition, more jobs, more choices for consumers, better service for consumers and lower prices. That‘s how we help lower income families prosper.
Fact Check
United We Stand plus Economic Freedom & Our High Cost of Living
ECONOMIC FREEDOM: “California ranks 48th in the nation in economic freedom”. Only Hawaii and New York are lower. SOURCE: FREEDOM IN THE 50 STATES.
INCOME EQUALITY: California ranks 46th in income equality. Only New York, Connecticut, Lousiana and Mississippi are lower. SOURCE: Wikipedia
COST OF LIVING: “California has the 3rd highest cost of living in the nation.” Only Hawaii and Massachusetts have a higher cost of living. SOURCE: The World Population Reivew
RESIDENTS LEAVING THE STATE: California leads the nation in outbound migration. New York is 2nd. SOURCE: Wikipedia
53% OF CALIFORNIANS ARE CONSIDERING MOVING OUT OF STATE: “53 percent of Californians are considering moving out of state due to the high cost of living. Millennials are even more likely to flee the Golden State — 63 percent of them said they want to.” SOURCE: SFGATE and Edelman Intelligence.
62% OF CALIFORNIANS BELIEVE OUR BEST DAYS ARE BEHIND US: Edelman intelligence
BUSINESSES ARE LEAVING: “More than 40 large corporations have left the Golden State in the last two years alone. The figure includes at least 10 public companies worth a combined $375 billion.” SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON FREE BEACON & the CALIFORNIA POLICY CENTER.
COST OF HOUSING: California has the 2nd highest median home price in the nation. Only Hawaii is higher. SOURCES: World Population Review and Zillow
COST OF RENT: California’s median rent is the 3rd highest in the nation! SOURCE: RentData.org. Here is a more detailed breakdown;
HOMELESSNESS: California leads the nation with 77% more homeless than second place New York. “The 2020 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress” reported that California had a homeless population of 161,548. New York was 2nd with a homeless population of 91,271.
UNEMPLOYMENT: California has the 8th highest unemployment rate in the nation. SOURCE:U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
COST OF HEALTH CARE & HEALTH INSURANCE: We have the 4th highest per capita expense for health care ($9,859 per person). SOURCE: World Population Review
Obamacare would not have passed without the support of the the health insurance and pharmaceutical (Big Pharma) industries. Obamacare Enriches Only The Health Insurance Giants and Their Shareholders by Forbes explains the impact that Obamacare’s passage had on the health insurance industry. Big Pharma got what they wanted too. This Wall Street Journal’s article spells out their secret deal with the Obama Administration.
Politicians were willing to give away the store to get Obamacare passed and the lobbyists knew it. Lobbyists Swarm Capital to Influence Health Reform. It was like sharks at a feeding frenzy. Lobbyists outnumbered members of Congress by 8 to 1.
WE’RE 38TH IN PRE-K TO 12TH GRADE EDUCATION: SOURCE. U.S. News & World Report. Of greater concern should be our world wide rankings. The United States is 38th in math, 19th in science and 13th in reading according to Wikipedia.
CALIFORNIA HAS A $713 BILLION UNFUNDED PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PENSION LIABILITY: The actual number depends on the rate of return on the assets in the two funds. This 2017 article from the California Policy Center gives a thorough explanation. The State uses a return on investment (ROI) of 7% and estimated the unfunded liability at $258 billion. That’s a rate they have not been able to achieve in recent history. The liability is $713 billion if the Citigroup Pension Liability Index (CPLI) is used. The unfunded liability is $1.02 trillion if the 3.73% rate from the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) is used.
COST OF GAS: “We pay more than $1.00 a gallon above the national average for gas.” SOURCE: AAA. Not only is the extra $1.00 per gallon not significant to the affluent, but the less affluent typically have longer commutes to work according to the California Legislative Analyst. There are 115,000 Bay area workers have a one way commute to work of at least 90 minutes according to the San Jose Mercury News.
POVERTY: “More than a quarter of Californians are living in or near poverty.” SOURCE: The the Public Policy Institute of California indicates that 28.7% of Californians were living in or near poverty in 2022.
DEMOCRATS CONTROL CALIFORNIA’S LEGISLATURE. Wikipedia shows Democrats have controlled both houses of our State Legislature for 60 of the last 65 years. They’ve controlled the Governorship, State Senate and Assembly in 38 of the last 65 years. Except for 2018, they have had a super majority in both the Senate and Assembly since 2013. Meanwhile, Republicans have controlled the Governorship, State Senate and Assembly in just 2 of the last 62 years. That was over fifty years ago in 1969 and 1970 while Ronald Reagan was Governor.
TAXES: “The wealthiest Californians already pay the highest personal income taxes in the nation.” SOURCE: The Tax Foundation
TAXES: California has the highest sales tax in the nation at 7.25%. SOURCE: Tax-Rates.org
TAXES: California corporations pay the 8th highest taxes in the nation: SOURCE: The Tax Foundation indicates that the highest earning Californians pay a top state rate of 13.3%
THE GREATEST INCOME, WEALTH GENDER AND RACIAL EQUALITY ARE IN COUNTRIES THAT EMBRACE LIBERTY: View the map or look at the chart and judge for yourself
GENDER EQUALITY BY COUNTRY: Wikipedia
RACISM BY COUNTRY: The World’s Most and Least Racist Countries. SOURCE: The Root
